Megan and Ryan's wedding

What a perfect day and beautiful wedding!

I had the privileged of being Megan's maid of honor and being a special part of their big day!  Megan is my longest friend- she and I have known each other since I was in 4th grade. She was the big sister I never had and beat me up and made me watch scary movies just like a big sister should have :)

I was so excited when Ryan and Megan got engaged they are perfect for each other and I was so happy to be with them.

The festivities started Friday with the rehearsal and dinner. I had never seen the chapel before and it was STUNNING! Rehearsal went very smoothly they just had to run through the binding ceremony because the pastor had never performed one before. It was really cool and kept everyone engaged the next day.  Otherwise everything went great. We had some time to kill so we went back to the hotel after and moved dresses around and got changed for dinner.  Dinner was a Cafe Luna- my FAVORITE restaurant in Raleigh. YUM. It was a big wedding weekend because the hotel had 3 other weddings and Cafe Luna had 3 other rehearsal dinners that night! My parents came up for the wedding and Justin brought them to dinner. We sat with Megan and Ryan along with Kristin and her fiance Brian (the best man for the wedding). My parents sat with the other bridesmaids and got to know the bridal party.  The night was filled with laughter and friends just like it should be!

Afterwards I headed to the hotel with Megan. It was her last single night so I told her that I would spend the night with her for our last sleepover!  I was very tired so prob not much fun (Sorry Megan). It was a perfect night some TV some giggling and of course ice cream right before bed. I slept like a rock and Megan even got some pretty good sleep too!  The next morning we woke up and worked out - Megan has become quiet the work out junkie running every day and I am training for the half marathon...so it worked out perfect!

Then it was off to Junction Salon to get our hair done! They did a great job :)

After snacking at the hotel we went for our bridesmaid luncheon which had DELICIOUS food (just a preview for the rest of the night).

Then we got ready and headed to the church. We got to ride in a limo which is only the 2nd time I've ever been in one and got to the church and sat around and waited. That is better than being rushed but we had lots of time to kill.

The ceremony was beautiful and everything went off without a hitch!  Off to the captiol building we went for pictures of the bridal party and then onto the reception.  Everything that night went so well and we all had a blast.

Dad and I got to practice our slow dancing and he even danced to a couple fast songs with us.

It was an all around great time and I hope they have a great time on their honeymoon. We have Maddie and Zym while they are gone and are enjoying having them!

Weekend Madness

Currently Justin and I are between Hickory and Raleigh every other weekend- thanks to the 3 acre piece of land we bought...the grass isn't going to cut itself.  (But Dads will! Thanks Terri and D'Neil for cutting our grass when we couldn't get down due to a broken mower and on call schedule).
It is fun to spend time at the new house and I really love it!
This weekend was jam packed with work and projects.  We took a huge load of stuff to Hickory (you can ask Laurie and Crosby who had to sit jammed in the back seat for half the ride home!)  and got that unloaded late Friday night.  Saturday morning we were up bright and early to meet with a fencing company about putting up fence at our house.  Laurie dropped off Crosby and her parent's dog Bear to come hang out with us because they were having guests that evening.

It was hard to get them all in one photo but I did it!

These two ran and ran and ran- they love the back yard!

 The rest of the day was spent on the riding mower while Justin weedeated the yard.  Then my parents came to help and Dad and I went off to get pool chemicals and mom took over my mowing job!  That evening we got showered up and headed to a party at Laurie's parents house!  It was fun to go and see their newly finished house and sit on the porch listening to live music. I could get used to a lifestyle like that!

The next morning we got up bright and early moved the bed to the guest room (where it ultimately will stay) and started mowing again. I got about 10 minutes in before the mower started sparking and smoking.  You should have seen my jump off that thing!  It turned out another spindle was toast- we had just replaced one that weekend.  Oh the joys of being a homeowner!  No one was injured other than the threat of throwing the mower down the hill....
Mowing was then not an option anymore so we took a break for lunch- mom made her famous noodle salad of which I think I ate the equivalent of my weight.

Then it was time to uncover the pool and cut down the wild cherry trees in the future pasture.  That is the problem with having a vet in the family- pretty much every tree is toxic to some kind of livestock but wild cherries are especially toxic to ruminants.  They have problems with the wilted leaves and as little as 2 oz can kill a cow.  I know I will have goats so Justin was elated when he heard these trees could go and he chainsawed the crap out of them. Mom and I loaded the truck and made a big pile- lots of wood for the fire pit once it dies!

We sat our exhausted butts in the car around 9pm and after dropping Crosby off we fell into bed and didn't move till the alarm went off.  We will be ready to not make that drive as regularly- Whew!

Beautiful (but dirty) pool- ready for all those lovely people helping us move!

Justin even took a break to hang our solar lights :)

Under Contract

I  hope it's not bad luck to say that so publicly, but our house went under contract earlier this week.  Laurie should learn to take vacations more often because everything sells when she is gone!  We are very exciting and the timing couldn't be better. We are set to close July 12th so we will be moving July 7th....oh that date sounds familiar does it? Well its because we are running the Half Marathon that day too!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes I know we are crazy. I promise I looked for a better weekend but between weddings/on call this was the best weekend.  We have amazing friends who have already told us they will help us move even if it means they would pack the UHAUL while we run- (did I mention they were awesome???).  We will of course not make them do that and pack the UHAUL the day before. This just means training has become all the more important so we aren't super sore and exhausted after the run (who am I kidding I'm going to be soo tired).

 But we will power through - nothing caffeine and glucose can't fix!  That said we are slowly packing things up- heading back to Hickory this weekend to mow the lawn and will take a big load back with us then.  Exciting times lay ahead....its a crazy road called life!

Beautiful sunset on our run.

Megan's Bachlorette

This past weekend we spent a fantastic weekend in Blowing Rock.  Laura and Lauren planned a wonderful weekend. Unfortunately Kristin and I were late because we had some snags leaving and had to stop by Hickory to drop Justin off.  We got up there about 9:30 and finally brought dinner so that everyone could eat.  I volunteered to cook for the weekend and went ahead and had a lasagna ready to go that evening.  The night was spent reminiscing telling stories and enjoying wine :)

The next morning we got up relaxed and went to eat lunch at Bistro Roca- DELISH! 

 After that Megan picked out a 5 mile hike (which she didn't realized was for experienced hikers only) and we trudged through creek crossings and up and down steep paths.  

We were all tired by the end but had a great time.  That afternoon  we relaxed and read our books in the gorgeous weather.  That evening I made a beef roast with Spaetzle. I think they were a hit because they were all gone pretty quick :)  then we played games till we were all too exhausted to stay awake.

The next morning we got up had a great breakfast of biscuit and eggs.  The weather was perfect again and we decided to go on another hike. We went to Moses Cone and went up to the observation tower. 

Stupid finger got in the picture!

The heavy breakfast and wine made the hike harder than usual but it was great to suck in some fresh air before we packed up and left.  The rest of the girls went on to get burritos but I was so full I went ahead and headed back to the new house to join Justin in fixing some things before we headed back.

It was such great fun! I can't believe Megan's wedding is around the corner!